The Royal Brewster Mansion:
A Slice of History
by Meg Gardner
The “Brewster Mansion” in Buxton is beautiful and exhibits an important architectural form just in its own right. However, perhaps even more important, its personal history mimics the entire history of the Town of Buxton, and even further, of Maine, New England, and the United States. Sandy and Bev Atkinson, its current owners, are dedicated to preserving its architectural importance and the stories of those who built it and also of continuing its traditional presence as a center of community life. These aspects have combined to make the building a significant symbol of the past, present, and future. The Royal Brewster Mansion was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
New England communities, including those that had begun to form along the Saco River, had been severely disrupted because of the violent King Philips War. Native Americans made a furious attempt to protect their lands from the encroaching white settlers. Although the war ended in southern New England in 1678, it continued further north, in what is now Maine, for many more years.
Eventually, however, the Native Americans were constrained (often because of epidemics such as smallpox that raged through their settlements, killing large numbers and weakening their defenses). It was at this time that the concept of rewarding military service from public assets was conceived. As a “reward” for fighting the war (and incidentally for losing most of their homesteads, possessions, and many family members), the system of land grants was conceived. Tracts of land were awarded to various men who had served in the war; thus was born the land grant known as “Narragansett Number One,” which later morphed into the town of Buxton.
The original “proprietors” could sell their land if they so wished. The lot on which Dr. Brewster’s house is situated was first owned by Ephraim Sands Sr., who was a carpenter and a “hewer.” He apparently gave it to his son Ephraim Jr., when the latter married. Ephraim Jr. sold the lot to Dr. Brewster, probably in 1790.
Dr. Royal Brewster arrived in the wilderness that was Buxton in 1795. The attraction driving him north was Dorcas Coffin, the daughter of Doctor Paul Coffin, a prominent theologian and minister. The Reverend Doctor Coffin had been called to be the pastor of the Old South Church at Buxton Lower Corner, where he stayed for nearly sixty years. He was known for his theological tracts and his many journeys even further into the wilds, serving the spiritual needs of settlers who had moved into remote parts of northern New England.
Dr. Brewster was the son of another medical doctor, Dr. John Brewster, Sr., and was born in Hampton, Connecticut, in 1770. The need for doctors was critical in the sparsely populated area in the wilds of the northern territory, which was still a part of Massachusetts. Both his charming young bride and the challenge of practicing medicine in this raw environment must have appealed to the young man. The house he built for Dorcas and himself was a handsome Federal style home located diagonally across from the Old South Church (often called “Tory Hill Church”), where Dorcas’s father Dr. Coffin preached.
Both the inside and the outside of the Brewster Mansion, which was completed in 1805, have a symmetrical plan as is typical of the Federal style. All of the windows in the main house are twelve-over-twelve panes with interior shutters. The front door has full-length sidelights and an arch. A Greek Revival portico was added at some later time.
The floor plan inside the house also conforms to the symmetrical plan favored by this period and style. Both floors have center hallways joined by graceful double flying stairways, each flanked by two rooms, for a total of eight rooms in the main house. Each room has an original fireplace, with the exception of the one rebuilt about fifty years ago in the present dining room.
A large barn and a carriage house were connected to the house. When the poor doctor was called out in the middle of a winter night for some emergency, it must have been easier that at least he could hitch up his horse to his chaise in relative comfort before braving the cold. This chaise was instantly recognizable in the area and appears to have been much admired.
Some historians speculate that the house was built by Captain Joseph Woodman, Jr. Captain Woodman owned saw mills and land bordering the Saco River. He was also one of the more prominent (and wealthy) men in the community.*
Dr. Brewster’s older brother, John Jr., was congenitally deaf and was unable to speak, although he had been taught to read and to write. His talent for painting was encouraged by the family. When he moved from Connecticut to Buxton to live with his brother, he continued to work as an itinerant painter and traveled throughout the area and the New England seaboard painting portraits, for which he charged fifteen dollars. Many of his paintings remain in both private and prestigious museum collections; he is considered one of the most important early American portrait painters. One of his portraits was that of Dr. Paul Coffin. The painting “disappeared” many years ago and was thought to have been lost. This past summer the painting was unexpectedly advertised for sale by a popular auction house. Bev and Sandy Atkinson, the current owners and “caretakers” of the Brewster mansion, were able to acquire Dr. Coffin’s portrait and to return it to Buxton.
The communities of Buxton-Hollis have participated in many delightful events held at the Brewster Mansion over the years. One of these is the annual Buxton-Hollis Historical Society’s Box Lunch Social Auction. Bringing forward the old concept of auctioning off decorated box lunches with varied and delectable offerings inside – may the better man win his sweetheart’s lunch – this charming custom has become a high point of summer for many of us. It is held in the barn attached to the Brewster Mansion. This magical barn is beautifully decorated and provides an especially charming setting for sampling delicious Ballet of Angels Brewster wine during an initial social hour and later for our persuasive and witty auctioneer, Bruce Buxton, to lure us to bid higher. If you do not wish to participate in the auction, but would like to enjoy the fun and festivities of this special event, plan to attend anyway, eat the lunch you bring, and make a donation of your choice instead!
The Buxton-Hollis Historical Society quite recently acquired the 1912 Bar Mills Elementary School Building by lease from MSAD #6 to use as its history center. The center houses a non-lending genealogical research library, museum, exhibitions, and programs. The auction is a major source of financial support for this effort. Consider attending next year’s auction. Many wonderful door prizes are offered and you will meet lots of very nice folks, have a chance to talk with the Atkinsons about the mansion and grounds, and laugh at the antics of our very entertaining auctioneer, Bruce Buxton. Above all, you will be supporting the Buxton-Hollis Historical Society while you enjoy a delicious lunch in a unique and friendly setting.
The Brewster Mansion has been and continues to be an integral part of community life and activities in Buxton from the time Dr. and Mrs. Brewster began their family life there two hundred years ago.
*This excerpt from the biographical book Genealogical and Family History of the STATE OF MAINE, compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D., published 1909, gives us a glimpse of Capt. Woodman and his accomplishments:
“…Captain Joseph (2), fourth child and eldsest(sic) son of Joseph (1) Woodman, was born in Biddeford, date of birth unknown, probably 1749; and died Oct. 15, 1824, in the seventy-sixth year of his life. Buston(sic) was a forest when he was born and during his boyhood. He was for three months the pupil of Silas Moody, and this was all the schooling he ever had. He settled on lot 3, range A, second division, probably immediately after his marriage, and there he made his home as long as he lived. He built his first house in August, 1775, while the British were cannonading Portland, and when he heard the thunder of their batteries at Buxton, wished he could have the glass they were breaking there to glaze the windows of his new house, which for want of glazing he was obliged to board up. The country was then so near its natural condition that wolves were plenty, and howled about his house at night. In 1802 he built a much more pretentious house, with a hip roof, which is still (1908) standing.
He built the first sawmill on the Buxton side of the Saco river, and his cousin, Hon. John Woodman, and others built the first one on the Hollis side. He owned the land where the dam and mill stood, and is said to have felled the first tree in clearing the gound(sic) for his improvements. He buit(sic) not only the first sawmill, which was double, but three single sawmills on the Buxton side at Bar Mills. Before 1798 he also built a grist mill and a fulling mill there. A carding mill was put into the fulling mill at a later day, and is said to have been the first one in Maine.
A large potion(sic) of the lumber in his day went to the West Indies, and return cargoes were composed mainly of rum and molasses. The(sic) every one drank rum not excepting the women and the clergy; and Captain Woodman, being largely engaged in lumbering, not only drank it, but bought it by the hogshead for the use of his workmen and of his friends. He was the founder of the Bar Mills on the Buxton side of the river. He owned most if not all of the land where the mills and most compact part of the village now stand, and his farm lay adjacent.
He never ceased to have a lively interest in all that related to Bar Mills, and though an old man when the building of the first bridge there was undertaken, he was so much interested in the project that he waded into the water to help move and place the crib which was to serve as a foundation for one of the piers of the bridge. While thus engaged he bruised one of his legs; inflammation ensued, and death was the consequence.
He was an energetic, wide-awake man, of great natural abilities, who knew as much law as any lawyer of his day, it was said, and to him all the people of the neighborhood went for counsel and advice. In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and capable of maintaining his side in a very spirited debate with his opponents in the Federalist party.
He joined no church, but was the first in town to adopt the faith of the Universalists. He had a remarkably fine voice, and attended Parson Coffin's church, where for many years he sang in the choir. He had great muscular strength, was fond of wrestling or any rough game which would test his strength and prove him master. He is said to have been a great joker and fond of convivial entertainment. He was a handsome man, handsomely dressed in the fasion(sic) of the time, wearing queue, ruffles, and so forth; in form, noble, erect and commanding, and having manners of the old school, dignified and polished.
He was captain of the military company, and was thereafter always called Captain Woodman, a title while his father bore before him. A military captaincy in those days was an honred(sic) position, which he was proud to hold. When in command of his company he dressed elegantly, wearing short clothes with silk stockings, silver knee and shoe buckles, ruffled shirt and ruffled wristbands.
He was a Free Mason, and his funeral, which was the largest ever seen in the town up to that time, was under ths(sic) auspices of that body. There were about eighty carriages in the procession. He was noted for courage and perseverance, and carried through whatever he undertook. He was generally liked, and was benevolent and good to the poor.
He married, March, 1773, Abigail Woodsum, doubtless born in Biddeford, where she was baptized May 28, 1755, and died at the house of William Scribner, who married her granddaughter, Abigail Wingate, Dec. 26, 1838, aged eighty-three years and eight months. She was the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Dyer) Woodsum, of Biddeford, who were married Aug. 24, 1749. Her father's father was probably Joseph Woodsum, of Berwick, tailor. Her father moved to Narragansett No. 1 when she was a small child, and she was taken there on a load of hay. She was a tall, stately woman, with black eyes and dark complexion, and perfectly erect, even in her old age. She was of grave demeanor, quite(sic), and not given to gossip. She performed faithfully and well the duties which were incumbent upon her, and commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew her. It has been written: "Her children were justly proud of her as of their father, and I never saw more admiration expressed and more reverance(sic) manifested by children toward their parents than I witnessed in grandmother's children toward her. She would have commanded respect in any company."
Children, b. in Buxton: Edmund, Joseph (died young), Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, Abigail, William, Submit, Tamson, John, James and Hannah.”
The “Brewster Mansion” in Buxton is beautiful and exhibits an important architectural form just in its own right. However, perhaps even more important, its personal history mimics the entire history of the Town of Buxton, and even further, of Maine, New England, and the United States. Sandy and Bev Atkinson, its current owners, are dedicated to preserving its architectural importance and the stories of those who built it and also of continuing its traditional presence as a center of community life. These aspects have combined to make the building a significant symbol of the past, present, and future. The Royal Brewster Mansion was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
New England communities, including those that had begun to form along the Saco River, had been severely disrupted because of the violent King Philips War. Native Americans made a furious attempt to protect their lands from the encroaching white settlers. Although the war ended in southern New England in 1678, it continued further north, in what is now Maine, for many more years.
Eventually, however, the Native Americans were constrained (often because of epidemics such as smallpox that raged through their settlements, killing large numbers and weakening their defenses). It was at this time that the concept of rewarding military service from public assets was conceived. As a “reward” for fighting the war (and incidentally for losing most of their homesteads, possessions, and many family members), the system of land grants was conceived. Tracts of land were awarded to various men who had served in the war; thus was born the land grant known as “Narragansett Number One,” which later morphed into the town of Buxton.
The original “proprietors” could sell their land if they so wished. The lot on which Dr. Brewster’s house is situated was first owned by Ephraim Sands Sr., who was a carpenter and a “hewer.” He apparently gave it to his son Ephraim Jr., when the latter married. Ephraim Jr. sold the lot to Dr. Brewster, probably in 1790.
Dr. Royal Brewster arrived in the wilderness that was Buxton in 1795. The attraction driving him north was Dorcas Coffin, the daughter of Doctor Paul Coffin, a prominent theologian and minister. The Reverend Doctor Coffin had been called to be the pastor of the Old South Church at Buxton Lower Corner, where he stayed for nearly sixty years. He was known for his theological tracts and his many journeys even further into the wilds, serving the spiritual needs of settlers who had moved into remote parts of northern New England.
Dr. Brewster was the son of another medical doctor, Dr. John Brewster, Sr., and was born in Hampton, Connecticut, in 1770. The need for doctors was critical in the sparsely populated area in the wilds of the northern territory, which was still a part of Massachusetts. Both his charming young bride and the challenge of practicing medicine in this raw environment must have appealed to the young man. The house he built for Dorcas and himself was a handsome Federal style home located diagonally across from the Old South Church (often called “Tory Hill Church”), where Dorcas’s father Dr. Coffin preached.
Both the inside and the outside of the Brewster Mansion, which was completed in 1805, have a symmetrical plan as is typical of the Federal style. All of the windows in the main house are twelve-over-twelve panes with interior shutters. The front door has full-length sidelights and an arch. A Greek Revival portico was added at some later time.
The floor plan inside the house also conforms to the symmetrical plan favored by this period and style. Both floors have center hallways joined by graceful double flying stairways, each flanked by two rooms, for a total of eight rooms in the main house. Each room has an original fireplace, with the exception of the one rebuilt about fifty years ago in the present dining room.
A large barn and a carriage house were connected to the house. When the poor doctor was called out in the middle of a winter night for some emergency, it must have been easier that at least he could hitch up his horse to his chaise in relative comfort before braving the cold. This chaise was instantly recognizable in the area and appears to have been much admired.
Some historians speculate that the house was built by Captain Joseph Woodman, Jr. Captain Woodman owned saw mills and land bordering the Saco River. He was also one of the more prominent (and wealthy) men in the community.*
Dr. Brewster’s older brother, John Jr., was congenitally deaf and was unable to speak, although he had been taught to read and to write. His talent for painting was encouraged by the family. When he moved from Connecticut to Buxton to live with his brother, he continued to work as an itinerant painter and traveled throughout the area and the New England seaboard painting portraits, for which he charged fifteen dollars. Many of his paintings remain in both private and prestigious museum collections; he is considered one of the most important early American portrait painters. One of his portraits was that of Dr. Paul Coffin. The painting “disappeared” many years ago and was thought to have been lost. This past summer the painting was unexpectedly advertised for sale by a popular auction house. Bev and Sandy Atkinson, the current owners and “caretakers” of the Brewster mansion, were able to acquire Dr. Coffin’s portrait and to return it to Buxton.
The communities of Buxton-Hollis have participated in many delightful events held at the Brewster Mansion over the years. One of these is the annual Buxton-Hollis Historical Society’s Box Lunch Social Auction. Bringing forward the old concept of auctioning off decorated box lunches with varied and delectable offerings inside – may the better man win his sweetheart’s lunch – this charming custom has become a high point of summer for many of us. It is held in the barn attached to the Brewster Mansion. This magical barn is beautifully decorated and provides an especially charming setting for sampling delicious Ballet of Angels Brewster wine during an initial social hour and later for our persuasive and witty auctioneer, Bruce Buxton, to lure us to bid higher. If you do not wish to participate in the auction, but would like to enjoy the fun and festivities of this special event, plan to attend anyway, eat the lunch you bring, and make a donation of your choice instead!
The Buxton-Hollis Historical Society quite recently acquired the 1912 Bar Mills Elementary School Building by lease from MSAD #6 to use as its history center. The center houses a non-lending genealogical research library, museum, exhibitions, and programs. The auction is a major source of financial support for this effort. Consider attending next year’s auction. Many wonderful door prizes are offered and you will meet lots of very nice folks, have a chance to talk with the Atkinsons about the mansion and grounds, and laugh at the antics of our very entertaining auctioneer, Bruce Buxton. Above all, you will be supporting the Buxton-Hollis Historical Society while you enjoy a delicious lunch in a unique and friendly setting.
The Brewster Mansion has been and continues to be an integral part of community life and activities in Buxton from the time Dr. and Mrs. Brewster began their family life there two hundred years ago.
*This excerpt from the biographical book Genealogical and Family History of the STATE OF MAINE, compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D., published 1909, gives us a glimpse of Capt. Woodman and his accomplishments:
“…Captain Joseph (2), fourth child and eldsest(sic) son of Joseph (1) Woodman, was born in Biddeford, date of birth unknown, probably 1749; and died Oct. 15, 1824, in the seventy-sixth year of his life. Buston(sic) was a forest when he was born and during his boyhood. He was for three months the pupil of Silas Moody, and this was all the schooling he ever had. He settled on lot 3, range A, second division, probably immediately after his marriage, and there he made his home as long as he lived. He built his first house in August, 1775, while the British were cannonading Portland, and when he heard the thunder of their batteries at Buxton, wished he could have the glass they were breaking there to glaze the windows of his new house, which for want of glazing he was obliged to board up. The country was then so near its natural condition that wolves were plenty, and howled about his house at night. In 1802 he built a much more pretentious house, with a hip roof, which is still (1908) standing.
He built the first sawmill on the Buxton side of the Saco river, and his cousin, Hon. John Woodman, and others built the first one on the Hollis side. He owned the land where the dam and mill stood, and is said to have felled the first tree in clearing the gound(sic) for his improvements. He buit(sic) not only the first sawmill, which was double, but three single sawmills on the Buxton side at Bar Mills. Before 1798 he also built a grist mill and a fulling mill there. A carding mill was put into the fulling mill at a later day, and is said to have been the first one in Maine.
A large potion(sic) of the lumber in his day went to the West Indies, and return cargoes were composed mainly of rum and molasses. The(sic) every one drank rum not excepting the women and the clergy; and Captain Woodman, being largely engaged in lumbering, not only drank it, but bought it by the hogshead for the use of his workmen and of his friends. He was the founder of the Bar Mills on the Buxton side of the river. He owned most if not all of the land where the mills and most compact part of the village now stand, and his farm lay adjacent.
He never ceased to have a lively interest in all that related to Bar Mills, and though an old man when the building of the first bridge there was undertaken, he was so much interested in the project that he waded into the water to help move and place the crib which was to serve as a foundation for one of the piers of the bridge. While thus engaged he bruised one of his legs; inflammation ensued, and death was the consequence.
He was an energetic, wide-awake man, of great natural abilities, who knew as much law as any lawyer of his day, it was said, and to him all the people of the neighborhood went for counsel and advice. In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, and capable of maintaining his side in a very spirited debate with his opponents in the Federalist party.
He joined no church, but was the first in town to adopt the faith of the Universalists. He had a remarkably fine voice, and attended Parson Coffin's church, where for many years he sang in the choir. He had great muscular strength, was fond of wrestling or any rough game which would test his strength and prove him master. He is said to have been a great joker and fond of convivial entertainment. He was a handsome man, handsomely dressed in the fasion(sic) of the time, wearing queue, ruffles, and so forth; in form, noble, erect and commanding, and having manners of the old school, dignified and polished.
He was captain of the military company, and was thereafter always called Captain Woodman, a title while his father bore before him. A military captaincy in those days was an honred(sic) position, which he was proud to hold. When in command of his company he dressed elegantly, wearing short clothes with silk stockings, silver knee and shoe buckles, ruffled shirt and ruffled wristbands.
He was a Free Mason, and his funeral, which was the largest ever seen in the town up to that time, was under ths(sic) auspices of that body. There were about eighty carriages in the procession. He was noted for courage and perseverance, and carried through whatever he undertook. He was generally liked, and was benevolent and good to the poor.
He married, March, 1773, Abigail Woodsum, doubtless born in Biddeford, where she was baptized May 28, 1755, and died at the house of William Scribner, who married her granddaughter, Abigail Wingate, Dec. 26, 1838, aged eighty-three years and eight months. She was the daughter of Michael and Elizabeth (Dyer) Woodsum, of Biddeford, who were married Aug. 24, 1749. Her father's father was probably Joseph Woodsum, of Berwick, tailor. Her father moved to Narragansett No. 1 when she was a small child, and she was taken there on a load of hay. She was a tall, stately woman, with black eyes and dark complexion, and perfectly erect, even in her old age. She was of grave demeanor, quite(sic), and not given to gossip. She performed faithfully and well the duties which were incumbent upon her, and commanded the respect and esteem of all who knew her. It has been written: "Her children were justly proud of her as of their father, and I never saw more admiration expressed and more reverance(sic) manifested by children toward their parents than I witnessed in grandmother's children toward her. She would have commanded respect in any company."
Children, b. in Buxton: Edmund, Joseph (died young), Mary, Elizabeth, Joseph, Abigail, William, Submit, Tamson, John, James and Hannah.”